June 2015

What can animal shelters do to eliminate or reduce the time pets spend in the shelter?

There are few populations more at-risk in shelters than young kittens. Susceptible to illness and requiring frequent care that some shelters lack the ability to provide, these vulnerable animals’ lives may depend on the implementation of non-shelter strategies.

During the summer of 2014, Maddie’s Institute® conducted a survey to identify practices that were successful in shortening length of stay, or prevented the pets from entering the shelter entirely. It covered three scenarios, the first of which is discussed in this report.

One strategy involves asking community members who bring in kittens to care for them until organizational resources are available or they are old enough to be placed for adoption.

Our principle aim in conducting this study was to assess:

The extent to which organizations encourage community member care for stray kittens

The frequency of community members who elect to provide care for stray kittens

The types of support were in use for this effort (i.e., medical services, supplies, training, etc.)